Steve Montenegro is a Salvadoran-American Republican politician from Litchfield Park, Arizona who is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, elected in 2022. He is a former member of the Arizona Senate. He was previously a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2017, where he was Speaker Pro Tempore. In 2014, Montenegro was chosen to serve as Majority Leader in the 2015–2017 session. He resigned from the state senate on December 15, 2017 to focus on his congressional campaign. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Arizona's 8th congressional district special election, 2018. Early life Montenegro was born in El Salvador and at age four immigrated to the United States with his family. According to his official biography, he graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Political Science. He also holds an Associate of Arts in Theology from CBAN and Logos Christian University. Political career Before his election to the state House, Montenegro was a district representative for Republican Congressman Trent Franks. Montenegro was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in November 2008, succeeding John B. Nelson. He represents Legislative District 13 (the former District 12), which includes Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Avondale, and also Luke Air Force Base. Montenegro was a Donald Trump delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He was also a frequent defender of the President on national TV, where his status as a conservative Latino made him a popular foil for liberal hosts and guests like Jorge Ramos, Anna Navarro, Chris Cuomo, and Jake Tapper. He was the only Hispanic in the Arizona legislature to vote for the highly controversial Arizona SB 1070. In response to accusations of racial profiling of Hispanics, he replied by saying that "This bill has nothing to do with race or profiling. It has to do with the law. We are seeing a lot of crime here in Arizona because of the open borders that we have." 2018 Congressional Race Montenegro resigned his seat in the Arizona Senate in order to run full time for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in the special election in Arizona's 8th congressional district in 2018. He had been endorsed by U.S. Representative Trent Franks (who held the seat until his resignation in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct). He was also endorsed by former Sheriff Joe Arpaio. During his